Page 85 of Omega Hunted

“So did I,” he replied. “Apparently my shoulder is preferable to her crib.”

I smiled despite myself. “I did warn you.”

“You did.”

He crossed the kitchen until he stood beside me, his eyes dropping briefly to where I’d been exercising before returning to my face. “How many?”

“Ten.”

His eyebrows lifted. “You were shaking after three the first time.”

“I remember.”

“You’ve been working hard.”

The words were simple, but they warmed something inside me. Nobody had ever praised my body for what it could do before. It had always been about what it was worth, who it belonged to, or what it could produce. Hearing someone notice that I was getting stronger, rather than simply recovering, felt precious.

I took Asha from his arms before he could protest. “I’ll put her down,” I said.

Cassian surrendered her with the reluctance of someone who’d just discovered how much he enjoyed holding a baby. “Traitor,” he murmured to her.

Asha answered with a sleepy sigh and tightened her tiny fingers around my thumb before settling against my chest. She was warm from sleep, impossibly light compared to how she’d felt inside me a month ago, and I carried her into the hallway where the crib sat beneath the stained-glass window. Cassian had built it from an old wooden storage box he’d found in the workshop, sanding every edge smooth before lining it with blankets until it became the safest place in the house. During the mornings, light spilled through the glass and painted the blankets in soothing greens and blues. Cassian claimed Asha liked watching the colors. I wasn’t convinced a baby this tiny appreciated stained glass, but I loved that he’d thought about where the sunlight fell.

“There we are, little snow,” I whispered as I lowered her onto her back. She stretched both arms above her head with a tiny squeak that made me smile before settling again. Asha yawned so widely I laughed under my breath.

“You’ve inherited someone else’s dramatic streak.” I brushed one finger lightly over her silky hair. “Sleep well, sweetheart. We’ll still be here when you wake up.”

She didn’t even open her eyes.

The kitchen already smelled of fresh coffee, and the herbal tea Brec insisted would apparently solve half the problems in the world. Cassian was standing by the counter with two mugs waiting, and beside them sat a plate of slightly uneven cookies he’d presented with ridiculous pride over breakfast, then looked embarrassed and announced they were practice for when Asha was old enough to make cookies.

The memory was so vivid that my chest tightened all over again. Nobody had ever planned a future with me in it, and my heart simply… melted.

Before I thought better of it, I crossed the kitchen, slipped my arms around Cassian’s neck, and kissed him.

He made the smallest sound of surprise before kissing me back, his hands settling at my waist as though they’d found their favorite place to rest. There wasn’t any hesitation anymore. Weeks ago, we’d both approached each other cautiously, uncertain where comfort ended, and something far more dangerous began. Now I knew, with complete certainty, that he wouldn’t push me away, and he knew I wasn’t kissing him because I was frightened or grateful or confusing safety with affection.

I was kissing him because I wanted to.

When we finally drew apart, I smiled to myself and wandered over to the counter. My tea was still steaming, and I stretched my arms high above my head, and I rolled one shoulder before leaning sideways into another stretch Brec had added to my ever-growing routine.

It felt good.

Not perfect, not effortless, but good.

When I straightened again, I caught Cassian watching me.

Heat flickered in his eyes, lingering long after I’d met his gaze, and something low in my stomach tightened in response. That look had become familiar over the past few days. It wasn’t just affection anymore, or relief that I was healing, or the protective instinct his wolf had wrapped around me since the night we’d met. Something had shifted between us as the twenty-eight days drew closer. We still stole quiet kisses while Asha slept or when we crossed paths in the hallway, but every touch lasted a little longer than it had before. Every embrace carried an awareness that neither of us seemed interested in pretending away.

My own body had awakened in all kinds of new ways.

I’d stood under the shower that morning with hot water running over my shoulders, thinking about nothing more scandalous than Cassian laughing over burnt cookies, only to realize I was hard. It had caught me by surprise, and I’d laughed at myself. Pregnancy, fear, and exhaustion had buried that part of me deep, and I’d wondered if it had disappeared altogether. Instead, it had simply been waiting, quiet and patient, until my body felt safe enough to remember desire.

More than desire.

There was a warmth growing inside my chest.

I wanted him.